Is Your Honey Pure Or Adulterated? Lab Test On Popular Honey Brands Reveals Key Details

High levels of adulteration were found in popular honey brands in India as per the findings of a lab test.

New Delhi: Honey, a commonly used food ingredient, is known to have multiple health benefits. There are different kinds of honey that have different flavonoids, distinct tastes, and unique properties, depending on the floral source of the nectar. Honey is a pantry staple that is found in almost all Indian households. Several health benefits are associated with consuming honey – and many diabetic patients use it as an alternative to sugar. Honey is easily available in the market from several brands. However, honey marketed by prominent brands failed key purity tests, according to a report by Zee News.

High levels of adulteration were found in popular honey brands in India as per the findings of a lab test. Zee News conducted research to find the on-ground reality of the purity of Indian brands selling honey. For the research work, three samples of two honey brands were collected and sent to the lab for testing. One of the honey samples belonged to the Dabur brand. For the research, the samples were sent to the lab without any labels or brand packaging to maintain the anonymity of the brands. The samples were sent to the Gujarat-based National Dairy Development Board’s Centre for Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food for testing.

What The Lab Test Results Show

All three samples of the two popular brands – Dabur Honey and Shree Ji Honey – that were sent for testing had failed the purity test, according to Zee News. A specific compound in the samples was found to be much higher than the expected standards. The HMF (hydroxymethylfurfural) content in Dabur honey was found to exceed the required range. One of the samples of Dabur honey was found to have 176.57 mg of HMF – which is much higher than the established standards. The HMF content of honey should not exceed more than 80 mg, according to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. The other sample of Dabur sample sent for testing was found to contain 97.250 mg of HMF.

Another sample from Shree Ji Honey also failed the purity test as it contained an HMF content of 135.16 mg.

Earlier, an investigation conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in 2020 found rampant adulteration in honey sold by major Indian brands including Dabur. According to a Hindu report, CSE researchers chose 13 high and smaller manufacturers of processed and uncooked honey being bought in India to test their purity. Samples of these brands were first tested at the Centre for Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food (CALF) at the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Gujarat.

In all, 22 samples were tested of which only five passed. CSE said 77 per cent of the samples were found to be adulterated with addition of sugar syrup and only three could pass the internationally accepted Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR) test. “Honey samples from leading brands such as Dabur and others failed the NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) test,” the study said.

What Is HMF And Is It Harmful

Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) – a quality marker of honey – is an organic compound derived from dehydration of certain sugars. HMF content in honey determines the purity level. A pure honey will contain up to 15 mg of HMF per kg. HMF is found in bread, dairy products, and fruit juices at different concentrations.

Studies have indicated that high level of HMF consumption has been reported to have negative effects on health such as “cytotoxicity toward mucous membranes, the skin and the upper respiratory tract, mutagenicity; chromosomal aberrations, and carcinogenicity”, according to the peer-reviewed journal BMC Chemistry.